Innovation

💻 RoomRaccoon, the US-based hotel management software company, has acquired Belgium's Lobbi PMS, expanding its user base by 300 properties in the Benelux region. The acquisition includes the integration of the Lobbi team and Ghent headquarters. Lobbi founders and CTO will assist with the transition, aiming to make RoomRaccoon the market leader in Benelux and enhance the offerings for independent hoteliers. This marks RoomRaccoon's second acquisition by its internal M&A department.

📈 The MURTEC Executive Summit 2024 is slated for October 21-23 in San Diego, featuring sessions on experiential loyalty, brand innovation, dynamic pricing, and robotics. Qualified restaurant technology executives can register for free with a $500 value using the code COMP500. The summit targets full-service, QSR, fast-casual restaurants, foodservice operators, and related hospitality sectors, excluding technology providers unless via sponsorship. Registrations undergo review for approval.

📌 Marriott International, Inc. expands the City Express brand into the United States and Canada, targeting the affordable midscale transient segment. Acquired City Express in May 2023, adding over 17,000 rooms in the CALA region, boosting Marriott's presence by 45%. With successful growth in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Chile, the brand eyes Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Brazil for further expansion. City Express by Marriott aims for a light operational model, conversion-friendly designs, and anticipates signed agreements and hotel openings in the coming months. Properties will integrate into the Marriott Bonvoy program for booking and loyalty rewards.

📌 More than 85% of customers want proactive communication from businesses. Hotels should send pre-arrival information one week before the guest's arrival or upselling messages 3-4 days prior. Utilizing a hotel CRM can personalize and automate the process, allowing staff to focus on face-to-face interactions. Pre-arrival communication is crucial for setting expectations, upselling services, easing check-in, and managing OTA guest data. It's important to choose the right communication channel and not overwhelm guests with messages.

📍 Noida, October 8, 2024: FlyArystan, Kazakhstan's leading low-cost airline, extends its partnership with AirGain, part of RateGain Travel Technologies Limited. Utilizing AirGain’s platform, FlyArystan accesses real-time pricing data from 300+ airlines and 50+ OTAs, with a 98% data sufficiency rate. This reinforces their commitment to affordable fares and seamless booking in Central Asia. Yerkin Tursynbek, FlyArystan’s Manager of Revenue Management, emphasizes the platform's role in optimizing pricing and maintaining a competitive edge.

📍 Turkey-based Pegasus Airlines introduces AI-generated multilingual flight announcements in Spanish, Arabic, and Russian. The technology was developed by the Pegasus Innovation Lab in Silicon Valley, established last year. First trial on a Seville, Spain route was on September 24. AI system clones voices of Pegasus captains, providing updated flight information, weather, destination, captain's name, and flight duration before take-off.

📍 Travel House, Wales’ largest independent travel agency, has partnered with ITV to launch a GenAI advertising campaign on ITV1 and ITVX, targeting the ITV Wales region. This marks the agency's first TV advertisement, designed to boost the success of its 16 South Wales shops. Leveraging GenAI technology allowed for high-quality production while remaining within budget. ITV Business Development Director Jason Spencer highlighted the cost-effective nature of GenAI in TV advertising.

📢 Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology company, acquired Knowland, a US-based leader in data-as-a-service (DaaS) intelligence for meetings and events. Knowland provides data from over 7,500 hotels for sales prospecting in MICE. The strategic acquisition helps hoteliers drive revenue and group bookings. Earlier this year, Cendyn welcomed Austin-based Haveli Investments to its equity portfolio. The US Travel Association predicts business travel to regain 95% of its 2019 peak this year, highlighting the acquisition's timely market potential.

🏩 IBM Consulting partners with FLYR to provide a one-order booking system, leveraging IBM's transition management and systems integration skills with FLYR's airline retailing technologies. This collaboration aims to modernize airline systems, enhance retail experiences, improve efficiency, and open new revenue streams. Benefits include transition management expertise, flexible and scalable solutions, and comprehensive system integration, enabling airlines to meet modern customer demands and achieve sustainable growth.

💰 The Cash Chasm Report indicates that 48% of hospitality businesses still manage cash manually, costing over $300,000 annually on security, and losing nearly $23,000 due to handling errors. To combat this, 35% of businesses encourage electronic payments, and similar percentages adopt regular staff training (35%), cash handling audits (32%), and stricter protocols (30%). CashTech, integrating hardware and software, is presented as a solution for real-time cash management, aiming to reduce costs, errors, and increase operational transparency, ultimately enhancing customer experience.